Shirley Dickson remembers the Tate family who lived next door on Shirley Lane.

A couple of things about Toad Tate. As you probably know, that was the nickname for Lyle Jr,. It was something about how he liked to swim. He was about six years older than me.

On October 12, 1962, Mom was at the dentist when The Storm hit. My younger sister went with Dad to pick her up. My older sister and brother wouldn’t let me go out to help them close the garage door after Dad left because they were afraid I would be blown away. Toad Tate was having a wonderful time in the upper branches of the tall black walnut tree that was in their back yard. He was whipping around like crazy! He was probably 16 at the time.

A few years later, when he had his first car, he would rev up the engine as he left Shirley Lane onto Oleson Road. Someone complained, so soon he was “revving up” with his voice. It was sort of funny.

Other memories about the Tates:  It seems like Mrs. Tate worked for Meier and Frank until she got close to retirement, and was fired, a common practice in those days. She then went to work for another retail store.
One day when I got home from school, I was quite disturbed to see a black and white car in the Tates’ driveway. The police cars were black and white at that time. I was relieved to find out it was a cab, and that Mr. Tate was a cab driver!

Christine was one of my sister’s friends. Since Mr. Tate worked at night and slept during the day, the neighbor children were not allowed to visit, at least that is my memory. I didn’t know the family well.